Justice Kennedy: We need more work!

Justice Anthony Kennedy thinks the Court should pack its docket with more cases each term. Speaking at an event at George Washington University Law School last week, Kennedy said the Court decided about 150 cases a year during his early years on the bench. Now, the court take up about 80 cases each term. That leaves the justices with just a wee too much time on their hands, Kennedy said.

“We should have 100 cases,” Kennedy said, according to this GW Hatchet report. “Eighty does not work us to full capacity.”

Kennedy also talked about being the infamous “swing vote” in so many pivotal High Court cases. “I never read a brief I couldn’t go down the middle on,” said Kennedy, according to The Daily Colonial.

UPDATE: According to the Supreme Court Public Information Office, Kennedy was not talking about being the fifth vote in split decisions at all. He was talking about the length of briefs submitted to the Court. His quote actually was: “I never read a brief I couldn’t put down in the middle.”